Sugar is Dangerous…

This page compiles some handy resources that will help fight the addictive (massively addictive) pull of sugar. If this is something you struggle with or suspect is impacting your health and well-being, these will help you to get started on rewiring that circuitry. We need all the help we can get, because our whole society is wired to encourage excess sugar consumption.

…because it is emotional

Sugar is dangerous because it is emotional. Some people feel personally insulted when someone tries to tell them that their morning pastry (and salad dressing, and tasty chips, and afternoon candy bar, and beloved desert) is killing them slowly. Why? Because our brains process sugar as a reward: “Oh yeah, well screw you!” the sugar addict says, or wants to say.

…because it actually kills people

According to the Center for Disease Control (ref PDF), in the United States in 2010 diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death. However, that may be low due to the nature of the disease: it leads to complications not specifically labeled “death by diabetes” on the death certificate. According to a 2015 Tufts University study, sugary sodas lead to 184,000 deaths per year worldwide (ref); more than 25,000 of those in the United States (ref). According to a 2013 report, 30-40% of healthcare expenditures in the U.S. go to deal with maladies “closely tied” to consumption of excess sugar (ref).

…because it is ecologically unsustainable

The current average consumption of sugar in the Western world is not sustainable. As well as environmental destruction, it also has a dark side socially speaking. The history of the African slave trade is tied up with sugar plantations, and still continues in the context of modern slavery. I can’t help but link this to the idea that sugar addicts are essentially enslaved by sugar, and the sugar industry.

So try this…

My not-healthcare-professional suggestion is this: indulge once a month (or less) in a “sinful desert,” and once a week (or less) in something you know contains sugar, like a beloved salad dressing or barbecue sauce. Then you’ll be able to really enjoy the thing, rather than mindlessly consuming all manner of “treats” on a routine basis.

But, also understand that this is not so much a question of an individual’s fee will in the moment, but rather, a scourge that is undermining our collective well-being, and the future of human life on Earth. Think I’m being overly dramatic? If you set this sweetener-craze-of-pornographic-proportions next to the “better living through chemistry” and our strange take on capitalism, sadly, I’m not. 🙁

…and educate, educate, and re-educate your neurons.